“I love you too,” he whispered through that sweet, shy smile that was close to unmanning me. “What are you doing tonight?”
“Nothing really. Why?”
“How about going on a date with your—how did you put it? Your sexy, OU-crushing quarterback boyfriend?”
“Wait, seriously?” I beamed while a swarm of butterflies took off in my stomach.
“Absolutely. We get back around three-thirty, so how about I pick you up at five?”
“That works for me. Where are we going?”
Dawson’s lips kicked up into a devastating smirk and I forgot how to breathe.
“You’ll see.”
Chapter 28
Theo
Age 17
The ferris wheel loomed ahead and suddenly, I was thinking this wasn’t my most brilliant idea. My dumb ass just had to let Dawson pick the date tonight. It wasn’t going to be a very sexy look when I got to the top and puked from the height.
The things I did for this guy.
“Come on, it won’t be that bad. You’ve ridden roller coasters with me before. How is this worse than those?”
“Because on those, I’m strapped in a harness and going two hundred miles an hour. The fear doesn’t have time to sink in. Up there”—I gestured to the giant death wheel—“I’m wide open and exposed…the fear doesn’t just sink in. It fucking marinates.”
The tiny snort he tried to hide was so damn adorable that I couldn’t even be annoyed with him. It was still kind of crazy to me to think that I stumbled across my soulmate at nine years old. In the woods of all damn places.
“Look, I won’t make you if you really don’t want to go. But I would love to do it together,” he said, leaning close but not close enough to raise eyebrows. We always had to be careful outsideof Neverland. A stupid side effect of the closet we kept ourselves in.
But Dawson was intensely private and worried for us, so I’d do anything to make him feel comfortable. Once we went to college together, we’d be free to be ourselves. We could hold hands and kiss in public. We could smile at each other without tempering it so others couldn’t see the love behind it. I could be patient...ish.
“Alright, I’ll go,” I grouched. The smile that swept Dawson’s face set off butterflies in my stomach. I still remember the day that first happened at his twelfth birthday party. He was opening presents and when he got to mine, he turned and gave me the brightest, most perfect smile. One he only gave to me.
And I was never the same. He had me.
I handed over our tickets to the operator who looked half-asleep, trying not to let my mind go allFinal Destinationon me. I stopped cold when I saw the red, metal bucket that was supposed to hold us. It had high grated sides and a metal bar to cross our laps, but other than that it was completely open.
“We’re gonna die.”
Dawson released an exasperated breath and pushed me onto the seat, sliding in after me and latching the safety bar in place. The second we lurched backwards, my lids slammed shut and my hand clamped down on the bar. My breathing was loud and unsteady, sharp pinpricks stabbing at my lungs as I worked for air.
“Baby, it’s okay! You’re safe, I promise. Just listen to my voice,” Dawson soothed. “I brought you to the carnival because I’ve been worried about you lately. You’ve been really moody and temperamental, which isn’t like you. Plus you haven’t been sleeping much, so I’m sure that makes it worse. I know I’ve been crazy busy with football, but I thought doing something fun,just the two of us, would help you feel more like yourself. Maybe make you feel a little better.”
I didn’t even realize that I’d opened my eyes to look at him until we slowed to a stop at the peak of the wheel. I glanced out cautiously and my breathing quickened again, but Dawson’s warm hand prying mine off the bar pulled my attention. He was holding my hand…in public.
Dawson’s smile was small and unsure, but when I squeezed tightly, he let out a relieved sigh and his lips curved up higher.
“I also wanted to ask…” he paused, rolling his lips in, “if you would want to come out with me.”
“I’m already out with you,” I teased breathlessly, still fighting off that slight panic.
“No. I mean,outout. Like I want to be honest about our relationship. Homecoming is in a couple of weeks and I want to take you as my date, not my best friend. I don’t want to keep us a secret anymore.”
My heart beat wildly behind my ribs with enough force to crack them.
